ATTENTION!
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE GOOD OR EVEN AVERAGE AT MATHS TO DO THIS EFFECT.
Demonstrate your amazing ability with maths that will engage and captivate your audience.

From Kieron Johnson & Mark Traversoni - so you know it has been worked and does work in the real world!

Look at their past released effects to numerous too list here all workers!

There have been many maths based routines in the past which are stand alone effects, what Kieron and Mark have done here is bring 3 effects together, simplified and reworked them into 1 routine.

Trachtenberg is a modular 3 phase routine which can last 2-20 minutes, builds to a climax which is engaging and entertaining.

Within minutes you will be looking like a maths genius and the great thing is the audience can do the maths for you so you don't even have to add anything up yourself.

The routine explained below is how Kieron and Mark do this, but you can mix it and change it around as you wish, including the back story or not.

You start by showing the book and explain you want to show them something amazing invented by a Russian called Jakow Trachtenberg.

A summary of his life is at the start of the book and you embellish this as much as you like with the true story of his life on the run and imprisonment in prisoner of war camps. In brief Trachtenberg's imprisonment was so horrific he went into his mind and developed the Trachtenberg Speed Maths System.

Don't worry you don't have to learn Trachtenberg's system, this is all a back story to the effects that follow which are not Trachtenberg's.

Phase 1 You ask someone to write down a number unseen by you from 20 -100 and go on to explain how maths can enable you to do amazing things. You then ask someone if they know the day they were born or if someone would like to know the day they were born.

You proceed by following the books instructions to easily calculate the day. This always gets a great reaction as it's hard to believe such a simple process will produce the end result which can be easily verified using a mobile phones calendar function.

Phase 2 Is more even more interesting as you talk about the concept of speed maths and how Trachtenberg could add up large numbers very quickly. You ask someone or the whole audience to takeout their phones and a truly random (not forced) set of 2 digit numbers is produced using the book. The spectator is asked to add up the numbers but before they get close you have the answer. This is repeated again but with 4 digit numbers with the same effect to the amazement of the audience as the numbers are truly random and can be performed repeatedly if you wish with a different outcome each time.

Included in the book is an advanced but still easy option to do phase 2 with a blank grid where the audience can call out numbers to make rows of 6 digit numbers which again can be calculated just as quickly.

Phase 3 Probability. Given the information from earlier in phase 1 you tell the audience you should be able to work out their hidden chosen number using probability. Using the book you write numbers down and appear to struggle a little. You show your calculations in the grid and ask if their number is there. It is not so you look puzzled and ask for the number. When they tell you the number you look at the grid and realise that all the rows and every combination, horizontal, vertical, diagonal and more add up to the number bringing the routine to a climatic end.

Key Features

You can ask the audience to do the maths for you so you do not have no worry of having to add up while under pressure of performing.

Pocket size A6 and A4 Parlour / Stage versions available.

Wipe clean pages for easy reset using a dry wipe pen.

All the phases can be repeated, there are no worries of the same numbers coming out in your answers if you do multiple shows per day.

Phase 3 can be repeated up to 6 times if you wish with the grid using different numbers each time. You can use any dry wipe pen (only 1) and there are no cribs hidden on the pen, everything is hidden in plain sight.

Do all 3 phases or just 1 or 2 with or without the story - make it your own.

Each effect is powerful enough to stand on its own but performing all three it really builds to an amazing finish.

...
You start by showing the book and explain you want to show them something amazing invented by a Russian called Jakow Trachtenberg.

A summary of his life is at the start of the book and you embellish this as much as you like with the true story of his life on the run and imprisonment in prisoner of war camps. In brief Trachtenberg's imprisonment was so horrific he went into his mind and developed the Trachtenberg Speed Maths System.

...

It seems that you should first investigate the difference between a war camp and a Nazi concentration camp! Jakow Trachtenberg - a Russian Jew - was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II! He developed his system of mental arithmetic during his imprisonment in order to keep his mind occupied and to survive the terror.

Why one should need a book to produce a sequence of numbers?
The spectators will easily conclude: Because (s)he cannot do it with really random numbers.

santlerconjurerVeteran user
320 Posts

Posted: Dec 30, 2018 09:47 am

0

Quote:

On Dec 23, 2018, saxonia wrote:
"a ... set of 2 digit numbers is produced using the book"

Why one should need a book to produce a sequence of numbers?
The spectators will easily conclude: Because (s)he cannot do it with really random numbers.

The audience sees the same sort of math workbook accompanying secondary and college math textbooks. For the audience book "producing" the set of 2 digit numbers is merely the process of generating exercises for the student. The same holds true when the book generates four digit numbers for rapid summation.

For anyone worried whether the performer can perform rapid calculation on audience-generated numbers (the so-called "really random numbers") the book includes a closing test showing rapid summation of three six digit numbers (two audience-provided, one performer-generated). In effect the performer instantaneously calculates a sum in the millions, which seems kind of impressive to me at least.

I ordered both the large and small books, and I'm very enthusiastic about the whole project. The confusion of POW with concentration camps was an extremely embarrassing sort of mistake, but I suppose when all is said and done that's all it is -- a "mistake" and nothing more. Everything else about the books is close to perfect.

Saturn UKInner circle
2305 Posts

Posted: Jan 8, 2019 01:57 am

0

The actual book does reference concentration camp.

I studied political history and we often referred to prisoner of war camps as a generic term but the book does say concentration camp.

We are actually unsure wether all the camps he was imprisoned were concentration camps it may have been a mixture of both as he was in more than 1.

As Santlerconjurer says you do have the ability to use random numbers in the number generation which is still very easy considering the rest is almost close to self working.

I actually had a relative of Trachtenberg contact me a few weeks ago and he was very complimentary and has promised to forward photos and some more detailed history as very little is actually available online.

I actually had a relative of Trachtenberg contact me a few weeks ago and he was very complimentary and has promised to forward photos and some more detailed history as very little is actually available online.

Please share any additional info you're able to find. Thanks in advance.